“That’s none of yer…” James began, but Maura interrupted.
“Colm McTierney”, she said flatly, watching Drust carefully to gauge his reaction to the name.
Drust knew of the Mac Tierney clan, of course, but not much about them. They were generally peaceful, as far as the highland clans went, and had never caused any trouble for the Mac Coinnachs. He did not know of a Colm Mac Tierney, but as far as far as he was concerned, this Colm was already a dead man. There was no question in his mind. His entire body was primed for battle, bloodlust thrumming in his veins. His mind had a razor-sharp single minded focus: get to Willa. See her safe. If he had had any doubts that she was his, they were swept away by the sheer intensity of his desperation to get to her. Aye, Willa was his, and his alone. He would do anything to have her back… including calling on the might of his family to help him. He turned to James.
“I need someone to take a message to my brother. Someone ye trust with yer verra life.”
“What is the message?”
Drust took a deep breath. “My brother will send men, and we’ll take the castle. If we catch them off guard, we should be able to reach Willa before they can harm her. I dinna see any other way.”
James stared at him as if he had two heads. “Justwhois yer brother, that he can send enough men to take back a bloody castle overflowing with enemy soldiers?”
“My brother is Bren Mac Coinnach. I am Drust Mac Coinnach.”
James just stared at him for a long moment, and the room fell silent as the grave. “Well I’ll be damned.” He shook his head and a wry smile touched his lips. “Mac Coinnach. I should have kenned as much. My sister couldna have just any ordinary man, och no!” She has to go and fall for a legendary Mac Coinnach!”
Drust’s heart stopped for a moment.Fall? Had Willafallenfor him? No, he decided. Her brother was only being overdramatic. James hadn’t even spoken to her recently; he couldn’t know her feelings. “Listen to me, James. Yer sister is in danger. I can feel it, and I think ye can too. Are ye going to tell me what is going on here, or am I going to squeeze the life out of ye until ye do? Why was Willa protected by wards? Why was she hiding?”
James glanced at Maura, who gave a little nod of encouragement.
“My sister is… in fact only my half sister. Though we share the same father, Willa was raised by her aunt in England. They were hidden there, and Willa only returned a year ago, at my bidding. Our father seized the opportunity to make a profitable marriage for her, solely for his own gain, of course. He cared nothing for Willa otherwise. She did give Colm the chance to woo her… I think she genuinely wanted to love him… to have a home and a family of her own. But my sister is no fool, she saw through the façade to the real man underneath, and she wouldna have him. But Colm had already set his sights on Dunbroch, and he returned with a small army. He was going to take the castle and force Willa to wed him. Then he could kill our father and become laird. He took the castle, and killed our father, but Maura and I managed to escape with Willa during the battle.”
James paused, his mouth set in a grim line, taught with emotion. “All that I have left to me now are my wife, and my sister. I would defend either of them with my last breath, so keep that in mind, Mac Coinnach.”
Drust fixed him with a hard stare. He was not wasting any more time. “Where is the man who can deliver the message?”
James nodded, understanding that the talking was done and now they would get down to the business at hand. He led Maura and Drust to a small cottage to the south of the castle, where he had a trusted friend.
***
The men had returned her to Dunbroch. Damn them. It was the very last place on earth she wanted to be. Colm had taken over the castle, brought in his own men, and made himself at home, despite her refusal to wed with him and give him the lairdship. In her mind, James was rightfully laird and always would be.
But Colm was determined to amend the oversight right away. He had sent for a priest. What he did not know was that Willa would die before she consented to wed him. She would not live as the wife of a murderer and despot. Either she would try to escape and probably be killed, or she would find a way to see Colm dead, in which case she would be killed as well. She had had many long hours to think about it in the past several days.
Either way, she was never going to see Drust again. Even now she longed for him with an ache that was soul-deep. She could see in her mind the stubborn set of his jaw, contrasting so sharply with the needful hunger in his eyes. How badly she had wanted to feed that hunger, to make him finally let go of all that honor and restraint. She knew that once he did, there would be no reining him back in. He would belong to her. If only things had been different… if he had stayed just a little longer, if she hadn’t been captured. If she had managed to win his heart. She could see it so clearly… her life with him, stretching out over the years, loving him, standing by him, giving him children. Meeting his family.
But it was all just a dream, after all.
The door to her chamber in the tower suddenly opened, startling her from her thoughts, and two guards entered the room. Each of them grabbed one of her arms, and she was lifted from the chair as if she weighed nothing at all. Though she struggled and refused to walk, they dragged her like a ragdoll, her feet sweeping across the stone floor. She lifted her feet up when they swept her down the stairs, but did not give up fighting the guards. In the great hall, a small assemblage of men stoically awaited her arrival. Colm was there, standing in front of the cold fireplace. There was a priest just behind him, looking nervous but determined.
Willa felt sick to her stomach as she looked at him. Colm was pure evil, she could see that so easily now. He had never wanted anything but money and power. But how had he nearly fooled her before? She was not usually so foolish, or so imperceptive! She had allowed him to woo her for God’s sake. To kiss her! She was beginning to suspect magic must have been involved, for his ruse to have worked so completely for so long. Thank the heavens she had come to her senses in time. Even if her judgment had been clouded by magic, a part of her had still known something was not right. She only hoped that same instinct would guide her now.
As the guards continued to drag her forward despite the frantic back-peddling of her feet, Colm gave her an arrogant grin. He thought he had won. Her panicked gaze swept the room, and she willed herself to calm. There were no familiar faces here, no one would help her. Not even the priest, who had undoubtedly already been bought. She glanced to the door at the opposite end of the hall. The heavy oak was shut tight and bolted. Would he come for her? A tiny part of her dared to hope Drust would break down that door…for what Willa? To be killed instantly by the dozens of armed men in this hall alone?She shuddered. No, she would rather he was safe. Rather he forget all about her and live… but oh, how her heart ached at that thought.
The guards planted her firmly in front of the priest, and Colm took her arm, squeezing it too tightly in his grip: an unspoken threat. He nodded to the priest, who cleared his throat to begin.
“No!” she said, though her throat squeezed tight as if she were choking. “No! I will not wed with you, there is not a chance in hell!” She pulled at her arm, but he gripped it tighter until she cried out in pain. “Let go of me! I willneveragree to this. Do you hear me? Never!” Her voice was steadily rising until she nearly screamed the words. Her breaths heaved in her chest as she struggled against him, determined not to go willingly to her own ruin.
Colm wrenched her impatiently back to his side, his expression calm and calculating. “I thought ye might be a bit nervous on yer wedding day, Sweet, so I brought along some encouragement to help ye get through yer vows.”
“I will not be making any vows to you!”
“Och, we’ll see about that, lass. Geordi! Bring him.”
As Willa watched in horror, a hulking soldier entered the hall from one of the other rooms, bringing with him a small lad of no more than six years. Behind them a woman cowered in the doorway, obviously terrified for his safety, but just as terrified for her own life.She must be his mother. She looked from the woman, to the child, to the guard, who had removed a gleaming knife from its sheath. Understanding dawned. Her eyes flew to Colm’s face, and he raised an eyebrow.
“Shall we, lass?”
